May 29, 2011

The bicycling season has officially begun!  For the first time in months, I went out both Sunday and Monday (Memorial day) and then again this morning.  On Sunday, my wife and kids joined me at the trail head by car after I'd biked there, so I'd already gone 6.1 miles before they even got there.  We then went as a family up to Target then returned to the greenway, putting in another 12 miles.  My wife now has her own bike instead of a borrowed one, so she seems to be much happier.

For Monday, I got out on my own (with my wife being too sore), and made it about 22 miles.  It was a touch windy but it wasn't insurmountable.  I guess in Colorado, I'm just going to have to be okay with windy or get no ride.  Since January, I  have been keeping a riding journal is a free "Mileage Guide and Training Log" I received for free with trying Bicycling magazine, which didn't work for me.  I know that I went about 400 miles on the old bike then have gone about 890 miles on the new bike, so since July, I've gone over 1200 miles on the bicycle, which is crazy anyway!  With keeping track in the journal, I know that I've gone about 354 miles since the start of the year.  Of course, the downside is seeing the long gaps when I wasn't getting out for various reasons.

It is a reminder that it's still just spring, though, when I got up this morning to head to Walmart and little country ride and it was only 40 degrees and I had to wear my thermal tights, compression base layer, long sleeve jersey, and jacket.  I even ended up with the thermal cap on!  I made it to Walmart in just over seven minutes when it used to take me between 12 and 15 minutes last year, so pretty good time.  It's funny when it just really doesn't seem that far.  I probably couldn't drive there much faster.

When I got back on the bike after getting my instant breakfast, I was faced with a strange discomfort: the breeze was cold, so all my gear was perfect, but the sun was rising higher and was making me too warm.  In the end, I only got about six miles in so as to make it back home for me wife to head off to work...it's going to take a few times to figure out timing again.  But it's a good start to the summer...